The Developer’s Guide to Work-Life Balance

If you’re a developer, every so often you’ll find yourself staring down the barrel of crunch time. At those moments, you’ll have no choice but to boil up several pots of coffee (or break open the latest crate of energy drinks), message your loved ones that you’ll be home sometime next month, duct-tape yourself to your desk chair, and grind away until the app or game or platform is launched… or at least won’t collapse the second anyone clicks on anything.

Even outside of those moments of insanity, however, many developers ignore the need for work-life balance. It’s a lost cause, they argue. I’m too busy trying to change the world, or at least make some money—and besides, stress is a motivator, right? Right?

Wrong. Think of it this way: Maintaining a solid work-life balance will give you the added energy needed to tackle your (long) list of tasks more effectively, translating into long-term career gains. Here are some ways to help achieve that balance:

Remove What Doesn’t Matter

Easier said than done, of course—when you’re in the thick of it, everything seems to matter. Sit down and make a list of what’s essential, from a professional perspective; downgrade everything that doesn’t actively contribute to those goals. No, you don’t need to answer all those emails in your box.

Outsource Tasks

There are a lot of apps on the market designed to streamline your schedule and outsource your errands and other daily aggravations. You might even be building one of these apps yourself. Use them to free up as much time as possible.

Exercise

You wouldn’t believe how reserving a couple hours a week to run or go to the gym can give you the mental balance you need to keep going.

Schedule Downtime… and Don’t Skip

Block off chunks of time per week when you’re doing absolutely nothing. Don’t break these blocks for anything. Use said blocks to rest your brain.

YOUR CAREER. YOUR PATH.

Author Bio

Nick Kolakowski has written for The Washington Post, Slashdot, eWeek, McSweeney's, Thrillist, WebMD, Trader Monthly, and other venues. He's also the author of "A Brutal Bunch of Heartbroken Saps" and "Slaughterhouse Blues," a pair of noir thrillers.